We have another homefront situation we're dealing with, having to rush my, now 95-year-old (we had a big B'Day bash this past Sunday) aunt to the hospital again, early yesterday (Wed) morning. The diagnosis, without going into unpleasant details, is that she is anemic, and a procedure will be conducted tomorrow to see just what-is-what (She is doing well, and in normal demeanor).

So, I am going to attempt to get a post (maybe two) up later this evening (or early tomorrow morning) but don't hold it against me if I don't.

There's a lot of good posts to catch up with, and, as always, a right sidebar chock full of good things to explore.

Tuesday, January 08, 2008

She pulled the woman vote, so, maybe her little "The View" moment had some impact ...

If the bulk of the Independent vote is found to have gone over to McCain, Obama can claim that Mitt Romney beat him too ... The Granite Staters were not, under any circumstances, going to let Make-Up Mitt drive back across the border to Belmont with a laurel wreath perfectly placed on his head ... But it may end up that the difference was the woman vote came out for the Clintons

Poor John Edwards ... The year he decides to run on his own, he draws two, mega-death stars to contend with, and even if he is the better candidate, he gets lost in the trail of galaxy matter (The Garlic, if we were have endorsed anyone in the Primaries, it would be Edwards ... Most pragmatic, fighting for the working man, and, perhaps the most normal, regular-type person amongst the motley crew) ... Edwards has to have had the thought cross through his mind, back in 2004, instead of being second-billing to The Dud, he should have run on his own then ... Ahh, but it ain't over yet ... Anything can happen ...

10:32PM: With about 66% reporting, MSNBC called it for Hillary ... CNN waits about another 15-minutes before making their call (Oh, the tension in Wolf's Situation Room) ... Obama gives his concession speech at 11PM ...

Stuck, pretty much with MSNBC most of the night, who all had gales of laughter and tore apart John McCain's victory speech.

What happened there? ... Did McCain pick up a bet - Go out there and read a horrible, disjointed, terrible speech for $100 bucks? ... Somebody check the Straight Talk Express, make sure exhaust, or carbon monoxide, isn't leaking inside ... But if I were McCain, I'd still keep my guard up, and make sure he knows were Oscar the Death Cat is at all times ...

Was there an Indian Casino referendum on the ballot in New Hampshire this evening?

Bill "Will Vice President For Food" Richardsonbrought in his standard 5% of the vote ... Nobody can round up 5% of the vote like Bill R. ... Perhaps time for El Jeffe to pack it in, before he's embarrassed in being dropped from the next round of debates (and who will chide everyone to be civil, he must be thinking) ... He can leave his card with the remaining candidates and, with one last pitch, tell'em he'll make a great VP ...

Williams: Greatest Political Upset in American HistoryRussert: We have Ali-Frazier

Ugh! ... It's only the beginning ... Prepare for the onslaught of pro-Clinton, "It's Hillary!" for the next number of days ...The media and pundits will be falling back in love with her and you'll hear "Comeback Kid" bandied about more often than Pete Rose bet on baseball games ... Wouldn't surprise me to see Hillary and her camp go back into their "incumbent/entitlement" mode ... After all, this was a "Primary" and not a "Caucus" ...

Either that or she starts ballin'-like-a-baby at the drop-of-a-hat ...

If you were wondering what a blow job looks like in the Wall Street Journal, you'll have to read Ajami's "Bush of Arabia", were he offers the hummer of "But Mr. Bush is traveling into the landscape and setting of his own legacy. He is arguably the most consequential leader in the long history of America's encounter with those lands."

And, here we have Bush, in a series of interviews with Arab journalists, in preperation of his Legacy Shopping Trip to the Middle East this week, waxing, without a shred of reality present, on his potential legacy, heaping praise upon himself without a hint of modesty.

"I can predict that the historians will say that George W. Bush recognized the threats of the 21st century, clearly defined them, and had great faith in the capacity of liberty to transform hopelessness to hope, and laid the foundation for peace by making some awfully difficult decisions," Bush told Yonit Levi of Israel's Channel 2 News. Bush held several interviews with Middle Eastern journalists last week in anticipation of his trip to the region, which starts tomorrow.

"When he needed to be tough, he acted strong, and when he needed to have vision he understood the power of freedom to be transformative," Bush said of himself to Nahum Barnea and Shimon Shiffer of the Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronot.

As for the people of the Middle East, Bush told Hisham Bourar of al-Hurra Television: "I would hope that they would say President Bush respects my religion and has great love for the human -- human being, and believes in human dignity."

The Bush record, the president told Nadia Bilbassy-Charters of al-Arabiya Television, is one of liberation -- "liberation, by the way, not only from dictatorship, but from disease around the world, like HIV/AIDS or malaria."

Got that?

In the same article, a different view;

"As for real-time views of Bush's legacy, Abramowitz and Knickmeyer write: "In Arab streets, many blame Washington for the plight of Iraqis and Palestinians. Bush's presidency has been 'disastrous,' said Hisham Kassem, an Egyptian journalist who received a National Endowment for Democracy award from him last fall. 'America's neither feared nor loved. It's neither feared by the regimes anymore, and it's hated by the people of the Middle East. . . . That's the Bush legacy.'"

Froomkin wraps it up, most appropriately;

"Bush's view of himself is particularly delusional as he heads to a region that remains traumatized, angry and distrustful on account of Bush's disastrous war in Iraq, his antagonism of Iran and his perceived crusade against Islam."

"The official Arab view of Bush was summed up inadvertently by a diplomat from a major Arab state, who indicated disbelief that the president will use the trip to renew his drive for Middle East democracy.

"Is that still on?" the Arab official replied sarcastically. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of diplomatic sensitivities.

"When David Ehrenstein, a Hollywood writer, penned an opinion piece last year in the Los Angeles Times, characterizing Illinois Democratic Sen. Barak Obama as “The Magic Negro,” Rush seized the moment to expose liberal hypocrisy with a parody -- “Barak the Magic Negro” (played to the tune of “Puff the Magic Dragon”). The Rush-haters pounced, claiming falsely that Rush, not Ehrenstein, was employing a racial slur against Obama. No, Rush was ridiculing the left, and once again, it hit home. And when Rush was pressured to stop playing the parody, he defiantly played it over and over again.

Well, Rush would have none of it. He criticized the Democrats’ use of Fox, Fox’s politicization of a medical issue and the dishonesty of the ads. As usual, the Democrats and liberal media distorted Rush’s argument, accusing him of mocking Fox and his ailments. They sought to deflect criticism from their own crude political behavior. But again, they failed.

For this, and all else he does every day to defend our founding principles, HUMAN EVENTS confers on Rush Limbaugh its 2007 Man of the Year Award."

Monday, January 07, 2008

Looking to batten down the hatches, before the Obama wave crashes over them, Hillary Clinton's campaign came out swinging today, dropping a bombshell in an attempt to continue her Saturday Night Debate theme, burnishing her experience credentials'.

In just a few days, since her third--place finish in the Iowa Caucus, and her defensive posture last Saturday evening, in the ABC Debate that saw saw Obama and John Edwards shine as much, if not more, than Hillary, the Clinton campaign has had to quickly revamp their efforts to avoid Hillary being pegged by the media as part of the "status quo".

Plans, according to Penn, included having the Bowie tune "Changes" blaring at her campaign appearances and, sources say, efforts are on-going to get Bowie to come out, tell the story himself and publically endorse the junior Senator from New York.

Penn would not confirm plans for a Facebook collaboration of a "Changes" party, with Hillary appearing, dressed as Bowie and singing a specially-written version of "Changes", that would include a list of her many accomplishments of leading change.

Fix Iraq

About Me

J. Thomas Duffy created and lauched 'The Garlic in 2005.
Mr. Duffy is an accomplished writer, with experience as a newspaper reporter, radio writer, comedy and stand-up writer, the author of three children's books (unpublished, so far) and, and, through a good number of his writing experience, actually received payment for it.
Mr. Duffy is also a Contributing Editor on the blog, 'The Reaction' and a Contributing Writer to the blog 'The Moderate Voice.
In his spare time, Mr. Duffy likes to promulgate that is actually the dog salivating that caused Pavlov to ring the bell.